EFS

1. What is Amazon Elastic File System?

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is a scalable, cloud-native file storage
service that makes it easy to set up and manage file systems in the AWS cloud.
Amazon EFS allows you to create file systems that can be accessed by multiple
Amazon EC2 instances and on-premises servers, making it an ideal solution for
applications that require shared file storage, such as web servers and big data
analytics tools. Amazon EFS offers a variety of features, including support for the
Network File System (NFS) protocol, automatic scaling, and data durability. In short,
Amazon Elastic File System is a fully managed file storage service that makes it
easy to set up and manage file systems in the AWS cloud.
2. What use cases does Amazon EFS support?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a cloud-based file storage service that provides
scalable and elastic storage for use with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon
EC2) instances. It is designed to be used in a wide variety of use cases, such as
storing application data, storing and sharing files across multiple instances, or as a
file system for a cloud-based application. EFS supports a broad range of workloads,
including big data, analytics, media processing, content management, and web
serving, among others. It is a fully managed service, which means that Amazon
takes care of the underlying infrastructure and provides automatic scaling, high
availability, and data durability.
3. When should I use Amazon EFS vs. Amazon EBS vs. Amazon S3?

Amazon EFS, Amazon EBS, and Amazon S3 are all storage services offered by
AWS, but they are designed for different use cases.
Amazon EFS is a scalable file storage service that is best suited for applications that
require shared access to file storage, such as web servers and big data analytics
tools.
Amazon EBS is a block storage service that is best suited for applications that
require low-latency access to block-level storage, such as databases and file
systems.
Amazon S3 is an object storage service that is best suited for storing large amounts
of unstructured data, such as media files and backups.

4. What Regions is Amazon EFS currently available in?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is available in several regions around the world.
To see a list of the regions where EFS is currently available, you can visit the
Amazon EFS product page on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) website and look
for the "Regions" section. There, you will find a list of all the regions where EFS is
available, along with the corresponding region codes.
Note that the availability of Amazon EFS in a specific region may vary depending on
the AWS services that are available in that region. It's always a good idea to check
the AWS Region Table to see which services are available in each region. This can
help you determine whether EFS is available in the region where you want to use it.

5. How do I get started using Amazon EFS?

To get started using Amazon Elastic File System (EFS), you will first need to sign up
for an AWS account and create an EFS file system. You can do this through the
AWS Management Console, which is the web-based interface for managing your
AWS resources.

1. Sign up for an AWS account by going to the AWS website and following the
on-screen instructions.
2. Once you have an AWS account, go to the AWS Management Console and
log in with your AWS credentials.
3. In the AWS Management Console, go to the EFS page and click on the
"Create file system" button.
4. In the "Create file system" wizard, provide a name and optional description for
your EFS file system, and choose the VPC in which you want to create the file
system.
5. Next, choose the mount target(s) for your EFS file system. A mount target is
an endpoint for an Amazon EFS file system that you can use to mount the file
system on an Amazon EC2 instance.
6. Review your settings and click on the "Create file system" button to create
your EFS file system.
7. Once your EFS file system is created, you can mount it on an Amazon EC2
instance by following the instructions in the EFS documentation.

6. What Amazon EC2 instance types and AMIs work with Amazon EFS?

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is compatible with a wide range of
Amazon EC2 instance types and AMIs. Amazon EFS is supported on all Amazon
EC2 instance types, including the latest generation of instances such as M6g, C6g,
R6g, and T3a. Amazon EFS is also supported on all AMIs, including Amazon Linux,
Ubuntu, and Windows. For the best performance, it is recommended to use Amazon
EFS with Amazon EC2 instances that are optimized for EBS, such as the C5, M5,
and R5 instance families. Additionally, it is recommended to use the latest
generation of Amazon EC2 instances, as they provide better performance and more
cost-effective options.

7. What storage classes does Amazon EFS offer?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) offers two storage classes: Standard and
Infrequent Access (IA).

 Standard is the default storage class for EFS, and it is designed for frequent
access to files. This storage class provides high performance, low-latency
 access to data, and is suitable for a wide range of workloads, including big
data, analytics, media processing, and content management.
 Infrequent Access (IA) is a lower-cost storage class that is designed for less
frequently accessed files. This storage class provides a lower-cost option for
storing data that is not accessed as frequently as data stored in the Standard
storage class. IA is a good choice for data that is accessed less frequently but
still requires rapid access when needed, such as backups, disaster recovery,
and archival data.

In addition to the two storage classes, EFS also offers a Lifecycle Management
feature that allows you to automatically move data between the Standard and IA
storage classes based on how frequently the data is accessed. This can help you
save costs by storing infrequently accessed data in the lower-cost IA storage class,
while still being able to access it quickly when needed.

8. Is the EFS Infrequent Access storage class still available?

9. How do I move files to EFS Standard-IA and EFS One Zone-IA?

To move files to Amazon EFS Standard-IA and EFS One Zone-IA storage classes,
you can use the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the Amazon EFS API.
Here is an example of how to move files to EFS Standard-IA using the AWS CLI:

1. First, create a new EFS file system using the aws efs create-file-system
command, specifying the Standard-IA storage class:

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aws efs create-file-system \ --creation-token "my-efs-file-system" \ --performance-mode generalPurpose \ --

throughput-mode bursting \ --storage-class Standard-IA

2. Next, mount the file system to your Amazon EC2 instance using the aws efs
create-mount-target command:

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aws efs create-mount-target \ --file-system-id fs-12345678 \ --subnet-id subnet-12345678 \ --security-

group-ids sg-12345678

3. Now, you can use the aws s3 mv command to move files from Amazon S3 to
the EFS file system:
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aws s3 mv s3://my-bucket/my-files /mnt/efs/my-files

To move files to EFS One Zone-IA, you can use the same steps, but specify the
OneZone-IA storage class when creating the EFS file system.

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aws efs create-file-system \ --creation-token "my-efs-file-system" \ --performance-mode generalPurpose \ --

throughput-mode bursting \ --storage-class OneZone-IA

This will create an EFS file system with One Zone-IA storage class, and you can
then use the aws s3 mv command to move files from Amazon S3 to the file system.

10. What is EFS Intelligent-tiering?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) Intelligent-tiering is a storage class that

automatically moves data between two access tiers – Frequent Access and
Infrequent Access – based on changing access patterns. The Intelligent-tiering
storage class is designed to help customers optimize storage costs by automatically
moving data to the most cost-effective access tier, without sacrificing performance.
With EFS Intelligent-tiering, data is initially stored in the Frequent Access tier, which
is optimized for frequent access and provides high performance and low latency. If
data in the Frequent Access tier is not accessed for a period of 30 consecutive days,
it is automatically moved to the Infrequent Access tier, which is optimized for
infrequently accessed data and provides a lower storage cost. If the data is
accessed again, it is automatically moved back to the Frequent Access tier.
EFS Intelligent-tiering is a fully managed service, which means that Amazon takes
care of the underlying infrastructure and automatically manages the data tiering
process. This allows customers to focus on their applications and workloads, without
having to worry about managing storage tiers and costs.

11. When should I use Lifecycle Management to move files to the IA storage
classes without a policy to move files back to EFS Standard or EFS One Zone,
if accessed?

Lifecycle Management is a feature of Amazon EFS that allows you to automate the
process of moving files between storage classes. This can be useful for reducing
storage costs by moving infrequently accessed files to a lower-cost storage class,
such as EFS IA.
If you do not want to move files back to EFS Standard or EFS One Zone when they
are accessed, you can use Lifecycle Management to move files to EFS IA without a
policy to move them back. This means that once a file is moved to EFS IA, it will
remain there unless you manually move it back to EFS Standard or EFS One Zone.
You should consider using Lifecycle Management to move files to EFS IA without a
policy to move them back if you have infrequently accessed files that you do not
expect to access again in the future. This will allow you to reduce your storage costs
by moving these files to a lower-cost storage class, without having to worry about
moving them back to a higher-cost storage class when they are accessed.
It's important to note that once a file is moved to EFS IA, it may take longer to access
than if it were stored in EFS Standard or EFS One Zone. Therefore, you should only
use this approach if you are certain that the files you are moving will not be accessed
again in the future.

12. What happens when I disable the policy to move files to the IA storage
classes using Amazon EFS Lifecycle Management?

If you disable the policy to move files to the IA storage classes using Amazon EFS
Lifecycle Management, the policy will no longer be applied to your Amazon EFS file
system. This means that any existing files in the file system that are eligible for
transition to the IA storage classes will not be transitioned, and new files that are
added to the file system will also not be transitioned. The IA storage classes offer
lower storage costs than the standard storage class, so disabling the policy to move
files to the IA storage classes may result in higher storage costs for your file system.
Additionally, disabling the policy to move files to the IA storage classes will prevent
you from taking advantage of the lower access rates for the IA storage classes,
which can result in higher data access costs for your file system. It is important to
carefully consider the implications of disabling the policy to move files to the IA
storage classes before doing so.

13. What happens when I disable EFS Intelligent-Tiering?

If you disable Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) Intelligent-tiering, data that is stored
in the Intelligent-tiering storage class will no longer be automatically moved between
the Frequent Access and Infrequent Access tiers based on access patterns. Instead,
the data will remain in the tier that it was in at the time that Intelligent-tiering was
disabled.
Disabling EFS Intelligent-tiering will not affect the performance or availability of your
data. Your data will continue to be stored in Amazon EFS and can be accessed as
usual. However, you will no longer be able to benefit from the cost savings and
automatic tiering that Intelligent-tiering provides.
To disable EFS Intelligent-tiering, you can use the AWS Management Console, the
AWS CLI, or the EFS API. You can also use the AWS CloudFormation service to
automate the process of disabling Intelligent-tiering for your EFS file systems.

14. How is Amazon EFS designed to provide high durability and availability?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is designed to provide high durability and
availability by replicating data across multiple servers in multiple Availability Zones
(AZs) within an AWS Region. This means that your data is automatically stored on
multiple servers in different physical locations, providing redundancy and protection
against data loss due to hardware failures or other disruptions.
Additionally, EFS is designed to be highly available and automatically scale to meet
the needs of your applications. EFS uses a distributed architecture that allows you to
access your files concurrently from multiple Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
instances, and it automatically scales up or down based on the amount of data you
are storing and the amount of traffic to your file system.
Overall, EFS is designed to provide high durability and availability through its
distributed architecture, data replication, and automatic scaling capabilities. This
allows you to store your data on EFS with confidence, knowing that it will be highly
durable and available for your applications.

15. How durable is Amazon EFS?

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is designed to be highly durable and
reliable. Amazon EFS uses multiple redundant servers to store data and
automatically replicates data across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within an AWS
Region to provide high availability and durability.
The durability of Amazon EFS is determined by the number of copies of your data
that are stored across multiple AZs. By default, Amazon EFS stores three copies of
your data, which provides a high level of durability and protection against data loss.
Additionally, Amazon EFS automatically detects and recovers from hardware failures
to ensure that your data is always available and consistent.
In summary, Amazon EFS is highly durable and provides a high level of protection
against data loss.

16. Why should I use EFS Replication?

EFS (Elastic File System) is a managed file storage service that can be used with
Amazon EC2 instances. EFS Replication is a feature of EFS that provides cross-
region data replication for high availability and disaster recovery. Using EFS
Replication can help ensure that your data is safe and available, even in the event of
a disaster or outage in one of your regions. This can be useful for applications that
require high availability or that need to be able to recover quickly from a disaster.
Additionally, using EFS Replication can help you to reduce the amount of time and
effort required to manage your file storage across multiple regions.
17. How do I get started with EFS Replication?

EFS Replication is a feature of Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) that allows you to
automatically replicate your file system data across multiple Availability Zones (AZs)
within an AWS Region. To get started with EFS Replication, you will need to first set
up an EFS file system in your desired AWS Region. Once your file system has been
created, you can enable EFS Replication for your file system by following these
steps:

1. Open the Amazon EFS console.

2. From the left navigation pane, click File Systems.
3. Select the file system that you want to enable replication for.
4. Click the Replication tab, and then click Enable Replication.
5. Choose the AZs where you want to replicate your file system data, and then
click Enable Replication.
6. Once replication has been enabled, you can use the Replication tab to
monitor the status of your file system replication and make any necessary
changes to your replication configuration.
Keep in mind that EFS Replication is only available in certain AWS Regions, so be
sure to check the availability of this feature in your desired Region before getting
started. Additionally, EFS Replication is currently only available for Standard EFS file
systems, and not for EFS Infrequent Access (EFS IA) or EFS One Zone file systems

18. How does EFS Replication work?

EFS Replication uses the AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt your
data as it is transferred between regions. This ensures that your data remains secure
and private, even as it is being replicated.
When you enable EFS Replication, you specify the source and destination regions
for your data. EFS Replication will then automatically replicate your data from the
source region to the destination region. This replication process is ongoing, so any
changes that you make to your files in the source region will be automatically
replicated to the destination region.
In the event of a disaster or outage in the source region, you can switch your
applications to use the replica in the destination region. This will allow you to
continue accessing your data and running your applications, even if the source
region is unavailable.
Overall, EFS Replication is a useful feature for ensuring the availability and durability
of your data. It can help you to maintain access to your data, even in the event of a
disaster or outage, and it can help you to manage your file storage across multiple
regions more easily.

19. What permissions do I need to use EFS Replication?

To use EFS Replication, you must have the appropriate permissions in your AWS
account. Specifically, you must have the following permissions:

 The efs:CreateReplicationGroup and efs:DeleteReplicationGroup permissions, which

allow you to create and delete replication groups.
 The efs:DescribeReplicationGroups and efs:DescribeReplicationGroupMembers
permissions, which allow you to view the replication groups and their
members.
 The efs:ModifyReplicationGroup permission, which allows you to modify the
replication group's settings, such as the source and destination regions.
 The kms:CreateGrant and kms:RevokeGrant permissions, which allow you to
grant and revoke access to the KMS key used to encrypt your data.

These permissions can be granted to your IAM user or role using an IAM policy. For
more information about IAM policies and how to grant permissions, see the IAM
documentation.

20. Can I use EFS Replication to replicate my file system to more than one
AWS Region or to multiple file systems within a second Region?

EFS Replication is designed to replicate your file system data within a single AWS
Region, across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within that Region. It does not
currently support replicating data to other AWS Regions or to multiple file systems
within a second Region.
If you need to replicate your file system data to another Region, you can use AWS
DataSync to transfer your data from one Region to another. DataSync can transfer
data between EFS file systems as well as other storage systems, such as Amazon
S3 and Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS). However, DataSync is not a real-time
replication solution like EFS Replication, so it may not be suitable for all use cases.
You can also consider using other solutions, such as AWS Storage Gateway or AWS
Direct Connect, to replicate your data between Regions. These solutions can provide
more flexibility and control over your data replication, but may also require more
setup and configuration. It's best to evaluate your specific needs and requirements to
determine the best solution for replicating your file system data across Regions.

21. Can I replicate Amazon EFS file systems across AWS accounts?

Yes, you can replicate Amazon EFS file systems across AWS accounts. To do this,
you will need to use the AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) to share the file
system with the other AWS account.
To replicate a file system across AWS accounts using RAM, follow these steps:

1. In the source AWS account, create a file system in Amazon EFS and enable
cross-region replication.
2. In the destination AWS account, create an EFS endpoint and mount the file
system to an Amazon EC2 instance.
3. In the source AWS account, use the AWS RAM console to create a resource
share that includes the file system.
4. In the destination AWS account, use the AWS RAM console to accept the
resource share invitation.
5. In the destination AWS account, use the aws efs describe-file-systems command
to view the file system and verify that it is replicated from the source AWS
account.

After you have completed these steps, the file system will be replicated from the
source AWS account to the destination AWS account. Any changes that you make to
the file system in the source AWS account will be automatically replicated to the
destination AWS account.
Overall, using RAM to replicate file systems across AWS accounts can be a useful
way to share data between accounts and ensure that your data is available and
durable. For more information, see the Amazon EFS documentation.

22. How does Amazon EFS Provisioned Throughput work?

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) Provisioned Throughput is a feature that allows
you to specify a consistent, minimum level of throughput for your file system. This
can be useful if you have workloads that require a consistent level of performance in
order to function correctly.
With Provisioned Throughput, you specify the throughput that you want for your file
system in megabytes per second (MB/s). EFS will then provision the necessary
resources to ensure that your file system can consistently deliver the throughput that
you have specified.
Provisioned Throughput is available in two tiers: Bursting and Provisioned. The
Bursting tier allows you to burst to higher levels of throughput when your file system
is not fully utilized, while the Provisioned tier provides a consistent level of
throughput at all times.
Provisioned Throughput is only available for Standard EFS file systems, and not for
EFS Infrequent Access (EFS IA) or EFS One Zone file systems. Additionally,
Provisioned Throughput is only available in certain AWS Regions, so be sure to
check the availability of this feature in your desired Region before getting started.